21st Annual Golden Pinecone Awards

Monday, November 17th from 6pm to 10pm
UNR Joe Crowley Student Union
 

Pinecone Ticket Reservations

Nevada EcoNet will present five Golden Pinecone awards to individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions toward sustaining and improving the natural environment of the Truckee Meadows. This is the 21st year for the Pinecone Ball and awards celebration. Nominations are accepted at Nevada EcoNet all year round. An advisory board of past winners convenes in August of each year to pick the award winners.

The Golden Pinecone Ball Awards was started by Tod Bedrosian, Bob Fulkerson and Bob Loux to bring the environmental community together as friends and initially to get the community excited about stopping the dump of nuclear waste. It was nicknamed the "conservation casual drab event" and the pinecone awards were handmade out of plywood, an ironic twist on formal award ceremonies to honor the environmental accomplishments of the past year. It is has now grown into a special evening among the environmental community and a great honor among award recipients.

The winners are:

Kyle Davis, Nevada Conservation League, Individual Award. Davis spearheaded the League’s "Priorities for a Sustainable Nevada" by convening a diverse group of conservationists to determine those that should be priorities to promote in the 2009 Nevada Legislature. Under his leadership the organization representatives determined four priorities. This unprecedented collaboration will increase credibility for environmental issues in the Legislature with the goal of legislation to improve and protect our environmental resources. 

Leslie Allen, UNR Cooperative Extension, Agency Representative. Leslie Allen's passion for local food and growers, and her tireless efforts to promote a local food lifestyle in Northern Nevada have been instrumental in highlighting the benefits of eating local food to the community. She forged connections between the various community groups and agencies that have a role to play in the local food system, and was instrumental in the planting of the West Street Market edible garden.

AT&T Real Yellow Pages, Business.  For 16 years, AT&T has sponsored recycling of old phone books,  which used to create new paper for new phone books. In 2005, AT&T Real Yellow Pages began donating 17 trees for every ton of phone books recycled at area parks. This campaign has resulted in hundreds of new trees being planted in local parks. AT&T Real Yellow Pages is further showing their commitment to this community and their belief in the importance of recycling by donating a 30-page recycling guide that will be included in the 2009 Reno/Sparks phone book.

Black Rock Solar, Non-profit.  Black Rock Solar is a nonprofit spinoff of the Burning Man project, dedicated to making renewable energy accessible and affordable to under-served communities. BRS has built more than 200 KW of solar across Nevada, including schools in Gerlach and Wadsworth, and the hospital in Lovelock, as well the Joe Crowley Student Union on the UNR campus. The recipients pay little or nothing, and save tens of thousands of dollars each year in electricity costs. Over the 25 year expected life span of these projects, they'll save over $1.3 million, which can instead be used to benefit students and patients.

Stephen Wells, University of Nevada Desert Research Institute, Public Figure/Servant.  Under his stewardship DRI has focused on environmental research directly impacting human health. He has  promoted DRI's focus on climate change, and has overseen what has become one of the largest hydrological sciences academic units in the country. During Well’s tenure as president, DRI has been intimately involved in research leading to the preservation of Lake Tahoe, the Truckee River and Walker Lake.

 

Golden Pinecone Award past recipients:

Bob Abbey (2005)
Ernie Adler (1991)
Willie Albright (2002)
American Land Conservancy (1997)
Bruce Bledsoe (2001)
David Bobzien (2007)
Karen Boeger (2003)
Tod Bredosian (2007)
Jenny Brekhus (2003)
Faith Bremner (2000)
Richard Bryan (1994)
Michael Cameron (2007)
CANWIN (1994)
Champions of the River (1998)
Graham Chisholm (1998)
Citizen Alert (1988)
Glen Clemmer (2005)
Comstock Seed (2000)
Frankie Sue Del Papa (1995)
Kevin Dick (2000)
Susan Donaldson (2004)
Naomi Duerr (2000)
Mike Dwyer (2002)
Environmental Leadership (1991)
Vivian Freeman (1989)
Full Circle Compost (2003)
Joanne Garret (2005)
Jason Geddes (2006)
Virgil Getto (1992)
Dennis Ghiglieri (1999)
Bob Goodman (2000)
Great Basin Mine Watch (2002)
Craig and Tim Hansen (2002)
Harvey’s (1994)
High Country News (1995)
Interpretive Gardens/Pinyon Design (2001)
Beth Isaeff (2002)
IVGID (2005)
Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful (2007)
Tom Knudson (1999)
The League to Save Lake Tahoe (2000)
Sheila Leslie (2006)
Local Food System Network
including Community
Supported Agriculture, Great
Basin Food-Coop, Nevada
Farmers Market Association (2007)
Bob Loux (1994)
Susan Lynn (1997)
McDonald Carano Wilson LLP (2005)
Bob Miller (1992)
Glenn Miller (1992)
William Molini (1998)
Tina Mudd (2006)
Frank Mullen (1998)
Karen Mullen (2001)
Tina Nappe (2001)
The Nature Conservancy (2004)
Jim Nelson (1997)
Lynda Nelson (1999)
Neuffer Construction (1995)
Nevada Bell (1993)
Nevada Conservation Corps (2001)
Nevada Land Conservancy (2003)
Nevada Recycling Coalition (1992)
Nevada Wildlife Federation (1995)
Patagonia (1999)
Grace Potorti (1991)
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (1993)
REI (2004)
Harry Reid (1993)
Reno Gazette-Journal (1994)
Reno News & Review (2003)
Elmer Rusco (1993)
Virginia Sanchez (1995)
Pete Sferrazza (2004)
Sierra Club (1989)
Sierra Pacific Power Company (2007)
Marge Sill (1989)
Silver Peak Restaurant and Brewery (2002)
John Singlaub (2003)
Doug Smith (2004)
Gary Snyder (2003)
Rebecca Solnit (2005)
Rose Strickland (1990)
Suzanne Sturtevant (1997)
Tahoe Rim Trail Association (1999)
Bruce Van Dyke (1993)
Don Vetter (2005)
Sue Voyles (2004)
Charles Watson, Sr. (1990)
Western Nevada Clean Communities (1993)
Bill Whitney (2007)
Cliff Young (1988)